Portrait Sessions

jill & matty & maizey: sydney portraits

jill & matty mccloghry first met six years ago at a cafe in sydney. jill had flown from florida to sydney to attend hillsong conference and conveniently met a boy named matty while out for coffee with a group of friends. turns out she had a good feeling about this boy because two months later, jill picked up her american life and relocated to australia. not much more than a year later, jill & matty were married and now have a beautiful daughter named maizey. sounds pretty carefree… but that’s not the entire story.

i believe one of the greatest gifts [& responsibilities] we have as Christians is to invite people into our lives. our high points and our low points. to not only declare God’s goodness when life is grand but to also declare God’s faithfulness in the midst of trial, confusion and grief. jill is a songwriter with hillsong church & her track “desert song” transparently reveals what it is to worship God through the desert seasons of our lives. i would invite you to watch the video below. jill shares her story much more beautifully than i ever could.

it was a joy to celebrate what God has brought this family through by capturing their one-year-old daughter maizey. she is an absolute delight: full of smiles that remind everyone she is the long-awaited answer to jill & matty’s prayers for their family. mccloghrys, thank you. so encouraged by your faith and your story and your family. thank you for allowing me to share a tiny part of it.

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  1. Holly Bishu says:

    I remember hearing Desert Song for the first time probably three years ago and then looking it up and finding her story and being so inspired by her faith in the midst of trial, her praise in the middle of the storm. What beauty is in these photos! God is good.

  2. That you for sharing such a beautiful and inspiring story!

  3. Anna Gray says:

    Oh my, these are absolutely stunning! What a beautiful story too. Goodness.

  4. Elisha says:

    ADOOORABLE SHOTS!!!<3

  5. a. rios says:

    Thank you so very much Jamie for sharing this beautiful story, it leaves me with lots of inspiration and hope.
    ~a.

  6. Jocee says:

    that is one seriously cute baby. i love them and i love that song. truly inspiring. :))
    -jocee <3

  7. Holly says:

    so inspired by their story!!!! thank you for sharing! :D

  8. Amelia Renee says:

    that is one of the most beautiful babies I’ve EVER seen. adorable! & so incredible to hear the story behind one of my favorite Hillsong songs. wow.

  9. Ang says:

    Love this – I’m pregnant with twins who share their food and blood source, which is a bit of a risk because one could essentially be greedy and kill the other one off. We’ve been praying for them to get through the “danger zone” (weeks 24 up to full term essentially) and come out healthy and a good size and have seen God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of his people throughout that time – we’re now almost a week overdue, believe it or not and will possibly need to induce these little ones out …guess they got to comfy in there!

  10. Girl you have got to be freaking stoked about this shoot. So incredible!

  11. Elizabeth says:

    love these pictures!!!! adorable family!

  12. Megan Menke says:

    Love this!! Such an encouragement!

  13. Gail says:

    What a SWEET family! And the name Maizey? That’s just adorable.

  14. Carmaleta says:

    Love this post! What an amazing story!

  15. Genevieve says:

    Thank you for sharing this. I see these guys in church every week but never knew their story. The photos are beautiful.

  16. Sarah says:

    Great photos! Beautiful people! Awesome story!
    I remember watching this youtube clip a few years ago and then sending it to all my friends after being so touched and moved by her story. So great to see that they now have a beautiful little daughter <3 God is so good. :)

  17. israel says:

    hello ,jill,my name is israel that God blees you, and your husband,have a beautiful baby,i^m from mexico in a small tow here ,i hope that God continue to bless and continuing success in hillsong,to see when they come here in cancun.

  18. Dear Jill,

    Your song is such an encouragement for me. Your faith walk resulted in the song and this amazing testimony which reinforces the fact that no matter what, God is in control !

    Loved the pictures of your family… Maizey is super cute…. :)

    Keep singing and inspiring us… :)

    May God bless you !

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I’m Jamie! I capture joyful wedding and portrait photos that feel like you—through easy, natural posing. Since 2008,  I've photographed over 270 weddings and nearly 300 family sessions and it’s a joy to spend my career capturing natural, joyful images!

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